


Lost in Each Other

by shcrlockholmcs



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Avengers Tower, Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie), First Kiss, M/M, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-05
Updated: 2019-06-05
Packaged: 2020-04-08 04:14:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19099537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shcrlockholmcs/pseuds/shcrlockholmcs
Summary: This takes place during the celebratory party at the beginning of Avengers: Age of Ultron.What happens when Tony catches Steve alone in a darkened hallway during the Avengers party?





	Lost in Each Other

**Author's Note:**

> Come. Let's get lost in each other. Deeply. Drown me altogether until our hearts beat slowly as one. - perry poetry

The raid on Strucker’s base, and the horrific vision Tony saw while there, was still painfully fresh in his mind. Not even an Avengers Tower full of party guests, alcohol, and pulsing music could distract Tony from the horrors he saw—the death of all those dearest to him, because he couldn’t save them.

He could feel the tightening in his chest that signaled an anxiety attack was welling up inside. Tony slipped out of the circle he was pretending to converse with to rush to the bar and down a glass of scotch. He placed both hands on the counter and hung his head, sucking in a deep breath to gain some composure back.

The warm tingle of the scotch made its way down to his belly. The familiar comfort of alcohol took a bit of the edge off. Happy’s hand on his shoulder jerked him back into reality.

“Uh, boss, it’s time for the thank you remarks,” Happy pointed him towards the small podium and microphone, placing a glass of champagne in his hands. “You okay?”

Tony took a swig of the champagne, not minding being handed things if it was bubbly and alcoholic.

“Sure,” he lied.

He strode across the room and stepped behind the podium, tapping the mic to make a loud noise throughout the expansive room to grab everyone’s attention. The conversation faded to silence and everyone turned their attention to Tony Stark. While many people in the room were close friends and colleagues of Tony’s, a massive amount of the guests were strangers to him—friends of friends, potential donors, political supporters—so this speech mattered. 

“Hello—everyone—thanks for coming tonight,” Tony started, able to dawn his usual charismatic and charming persona despite the near anxiety attack just seconds ago. “We’re here to celebrate many of the recent accomplishments of the Avengers.”

He paused as the crowd clapped enthusiastically and the people around each respective Avenger turned to them and nudged them in acknowledgment. 

“I’m up here speaking because I pay for everything, but the true leader of our gang of misfit fighters is Steve Rogers, but most of you know him as Captain America. Today you’re celebrating all of us, sure, but I’d argue that we would truly not be anything if it weren’t for him. Thanks to everyone for showing up tonight. We promise to continually endeavor to make this world safer for all of you—and I’m certain we will as long as Cap is with us. Cheers.”

Steve turned away from the podium to look back at Nat and Sam, who were keeping him company by the pool table before Tony’s speech started. He knew his cheeks were bright red from Tony’s public high praise and he tried to hide it by taking a swig of his beer.

“My, my, that’s quite the praise coming from ego-maniac Stark,” Sam laughed, patting Steve on the back.

“Yeah, well, maybe he just feels bad for giving me so much hell for the language comment,” Steve mumbled, drinking more beer hoping it would wash away the semi-permanent blush on his cheeks.

Natasha caught Steve’s eyes and gave him an all too knowing smirk. 

“Yeah, I’m sure that’s it,” she added, her tone sarcastic and teasing. In moments like these Steve could smack her—she always knew more than she was ever willing to let on. But what could he expect from an assassin trained in discerning every detail about her targets? It was just never fun to be on the receiving end of those all-knowing eyes. 

“Is there something you’d like to share?” Steve prodded, nudging Nat with his elbow. She laughed.

“We all know Tony’s your, uh, biggest fan,” she said, raising her eyebrows and smirking.

Steve tried to muster a clever retort, but got quickly distracted by a buzzing in his pocket. He took out his phone and checked the notification.

“I’ve, got to uh, step away for a moment. I’ll be right back,” he explained, setting his beer down on the edge of the pool table and walking off without further comment.

He wove his way out of the party and wandered until he found a quiet hallway, walking until the voices were a murmur in the background, and stared down at his phone. A notification glared brightly on the screen and it read: “Barnes spotted in the Boston area.”

Steve had friends out searching for Bucky ever since they parted ways months and months ago. He and Sam had been looking whenever they had the time, but so far failed to find any solid trace. And now this text. But the information was likely unreliable—he wouldn’t exactly trust the source with his life. And yet he was still stuck staring at his phone with a frown on his face.

“Turn that frown upside down, Cap.”

“What?” Steve’s head snapped up at the sound of Tony’s voice and he clumsily shoved his phone back into his pocket.

“Hiding in the hallway alone and making frowny faces at your phone is no way to spend a party meant to celebrate you,” he chided.

“It’s for all of us, Tony, the Avengers. Everyone here is celebrating you, too.”

Tony shrugged, walking further down the hallway and closer to Steve so there was just about a foot between them. He did his best to ignore the stark physical differences between himself and Steve, but when they were this close, it was hard to push aside. Steve was taller, his muscles practically had their own gravitational pull, and his baby blue eyes were polar opposite to Tony’s chocolate brown ones.

He found himself running his eyes along Steve’s body, a lump in his throat and butterflies in his stomach. There was no denying that Captain America was the definition of America’s ideal man. And if there was any question about that, half of the party guests fawning and throwing themselves at him, men and women alike, confirmed it.

It had taken immense restraint to keep his distance throughout the party and not assert any sort of possession over Steve as he watched people line up to fumble all over him. Jealousy was not one of Tony’s best qualities, but he suffered from it regardless.

 “So, what’s so interesting it took you away from our big party? One of your little friends spot Barnes somewhere?” he asked with a little too much venom in his voice.

Steve looked startled, but Tony continued before he could respond.

 “I’m not stupid Rogers—I like to think I know you pretty well. And I heard Nat and Sam talking about it the other day.”

“Yeah. I got a tip he was spotted in Boston, but I’m not sure I trust it,” Steve explained. He knew better than to lie to Tony when confronted to directly. And besides, Steve was only really capable of lying by omission.

He was thrown off by the animosity in Tony’s voice. Was he mad Steve hadn’t asked him for help? Was he jealous?—No. That would be ridiculous.

“So, you and Barnes—you ever get jiggy with it back in the day?”

And there it was—it struck Steve like Mjolnir right in the chest. His mouth gaped wide open.

“Wh-why-I-you-what?” he sputtered.

“C’mon Cap, I’ve worked pretty closely with the military. Rhodey is a Colonel. I know what kinds of things can go on,” Tony added, raising his eyebrows high.

“No Tony—no. God,” Steve continued to sputter like a broken motor. His face was bright red and the blush was spreading down his neck. “Buck—he’s—he’s my best friend. We never—no. Never. There wasn’t any time for that and—there was Peggy back then.”

Tony let the silence hang there for a moment, his eyebrows raised in disbelief. Steve’s heart was racing—not because he was lying—but because it was the last topic he ever thought he would discuss with Tony.

Nat was not exactly secretive in her teasing of Steve and the way he stared at Tony. He wasn’t an idiot either—he was aware that whenever Tony spouted off something brilliant or puled a heroic move in the middle of battle that he was prone to beaming at him in a way Nat called like an “enamored high school girl”.

_God, has he heard Nat saying those things?_

_Has he noticed the way I look at him?_

_Is he playing at something?_

Were the only trains of thought racing in Steve’s mind, but a sudden spark of inspiration—a way to turn the tables on Tony—came to mind.

“Tony, are you jealous?” Steve asked, raising an eyebrow and his tone ever so slightly patronizing.

Tony smirked.

“Yes.”

_Well that back fired._

“Oh—oh?” Steve was back to sputtering.

Tony took a step forward, now crowding into Steve’s personal space, and looking into his eyes defiantly. Steve swallowed so hard that his adam’s apple violently bobbed and Tony’s smirk grew.

 The electricity vibrating between them put some of Thor’s showiest moves to shame.

“Yeah, actually, it has been driving me pretty crazy watching everyone gawk all over you tonight. We should have sold tickets for your meet-and-greet at the rate our guests have been fawning,” Tony said, his voice lowered and huskier than before.

Steve’s eyes were stuck staring at Tony’s lips as he talked. There was a warmth in the pit of his stomach that was not there earlier. His body was leaning in towards Tony’s—as if his friend had some sort of magnet the was drawing him in.

Tony’s hand reached out and rested on Steve’s bicep, their chests now touching, the only thing keeping their lips apart: a battle of wills. They stood there, chests rubbing together as they both breathed heavily, silently waiting to see who would give in.

Their individual reluctance to be the one to initiate the next step was not born out of a toxic masculinity need for competition or appearances—but rather, they both could feel the extreme weight of what this next move meant. Years of tension and deeply buried feelings hung in the air between them. This next step threatened to unravel everything—it would cause the walls they had strategically built up to come crashing down—and maybe that was a good thing.

Maybe that’s exactly why it should happen.

Steve bent down a bit, his nose rubbing against Tony’s.

“Tony…,” he whispered, his eyes fluttering shut.

And that’s all it took for the invisible wire holding Tony back to snap.

Tony reached up and cupped Steve’s face in his hands and their lips met.

It was gentler than Steve expected from Tony—given all the rumors he had heard about him in the realm of life. The softness of his touch and his lips made every nerve ending tingle.

The world melts away as they melt into one another. Those walls quietly crumble as they drink each other in. And their kiss—it is so much more than a simple kiss. It is an extension of the trust and partnership they have in every other arena—in the Avenger’s Tower, on the battlefield—suddenly everything is given a depth that was previously unfathomable.

Their lips moving together and their hands hungrily grappling onto one another—it’s an offering of safety and peace. It says, “the rest of the world is dark and dangerous—but here together the light shines brightly.”

This beautiful moment feels simultaneously powerful and yet so fragile. Both men are frantic to engrain it in their memories, their hands running over each other’s arms and chests, logging the details their fingertips find.

They break away, foreheads resting together. Breathless.

“Tired already, old man?” Tony chided.

“Shut up Tony—everyone needs oxygen eventually.”

They chuckled softly, refusing to break apart and end the moment.

“The night is still young. They’ll notice we’re missing soon,” Tony said. It made his heart drop, but it was reality.

“I know, but can’t we just stay like this a little longer?” Steve asked, not bothering to hide the desperation in his voice.

Tony looked into his eyes—his blue eyes that sucked him in and made him feel like he was drowning—and he knew he was a goner.

“Okay,” he said softly.


End file.
